yogurt

Happy Apple Day everyone! Every year we are really looking forward to this day. Even though we are well into autumn, somehow this day feels like the beginning of a more wintery autumn, if that makes any sense. The market is now full of our favourite butternut squash, loads of mushrooms, and of course apples, so many different apples! Our shop is open today, so come by. Next best thing you can do this Sunday other than apple picking!

Every year we are amazed at the variety of colours, flavours and different textures of the apples that we find at the market. For our recipe today we have selected three different varieties. Join us, ‘tis the season to do so! Every year on apple day we are longing for something sweet. Remember our olive oil apple cake from last year? This year we went for something sweet again. And we used olive oil again. Only this time we put our apple oil into the game! This is by far my favourite of all the olive oils that we have at Oliveology. Without getting too carried away, just imagine: semi-ripe olives, apples, honey, sage, lemon, walnuts, cinnamon, all crushed together. Exquisite is an understatement.

But let’s get on to our recipe, an apple tarte tatin with grape molasses instead of sugar!

Cut the apples in half and then each half in 4 wedges, removing the cores and seeds. In a heavy bottomed frying pan and over medium heat melt the butter and add the apples. Stir gently and add the spices, walnuts and raisins. Let the apples, raisins and nuts cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring every so often. Apples should be slightly tender and coated with butter and spices. Add the grape molasses and stir for 2 more minutes.

Use the apple oil to oil a baking tray. Arrange your apples very tightly in rows or whichever shape you prefer, making sure the apples are spread out and don’t overlap. Scatter the raisins and walnuts and all the juices from the pan. Cover with the sheet of puff pastry and tuck in the ends. With a fork pierce the puff pastry to a few places, to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 20-25min, or until the puff pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool a bit. Place a serving platter on top of your tray and with one swift move, invert your tart onto the serving platter.

Serve with a dollop of yogurt and drizzle some more apple oil. Hint: this tart is actually quite good eaten at room temperature the next morning.

This week we’re all into cooking. And we are getting ready for our cooking workshops this autumn! The first one is just for kids, at the end of October with the wonderful Amaryllis who makes cooking a fascinating experience for the little ones. And then there is our November one, for adults, with Lia who brings together her Welsh life and Greek heritage. We’ve also started planning our December one, full of Christmas recipes with a special guest chef-details soon to follow.

So yes, we do love cooking this week. And we’ve prepared a vibrant dressing for you. Dressings are our favourite things. They can turn any ingredient or dish into something you look forward to savouring. This one is made with yogurt! You see, we wanted to get a bit away from the vinaigrettes and create something creamy and comforting. Its secret ingredient is our smoked paprika! You can use this dressing in green salads, pour over roasted vegetables or make a delicious potato salad.

In a bowl mix the yogurt and mustard. Add the lemon zest, juice and smoked paprika and mix well. Add the olive oil and stir, adding the water one tablespoon at a time so that you have the texture you want. If you want the dressing to be more runny then add a bit more water, one tablespoon at a time.

Autumn is here! Usually at this time of year many of us are struggling to leave summer behind. All of us at Oliveology found that the best way to change seasons is to make foods that will make us excited about what’s ahead.

This week we are using the last grapes that we find at the market and some lovely pears that are now beginning to come. If you prefer you can use just grapes or just pears. Or create your own flavour combinations!

But we are not making a sweet tart. We are pairing sweet fruit with our organic feta cheese. And some Greek yogurt! Remember our leftovers tart from a few months back? Or our colourful squash tart from last year? This lays somewhere in between!

We’ve also added some walnuts. Some fragrant thyme honey and our 21 walnut oil drizzled on top takes this tart into a whole other level. It is perfect with a green salad as a main, or you can cut it into small pieces and serve it at a buffet.

Roll out your puff pastry and place it on a baking sheet. You can use greaseproof paper, or make sure to oil the baking sheet so that your tart doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Using a fork, pierce the puff pastry across all of its surface. Put the puff pastry in the oven and bake for 5 min, until light golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Leave the oven on.

In the meantime, finely slice your pears, removing any seeds. Slice each grape in half. Chop your walnuts. Pick the leaves from the thyme and discard the stalks.

Spread your yogurt on top of the puff pastry, so that it covers its entire surface. Sprinkle the grated feta cheese. Make sure it goes everywhere. Place your pears and grapes on top. Sprinkle the walnuts and dried thyme.

Place the tart back in the oven and bake for 20-25min or until the cheese has melted and the fruit is soft. Your puff pastry should be dark gold. Remove from the oven. You can serve warm, but it’s equally good at room temperature.

I think as we are moving into winter, it’s time you got introduced to our favourite winter vegetable. For this year at least. What do we love this December? Beetroot!

With its deep purple-red colour, sweet taste and aroma, it is the perfect ingredient to brighten up our winter lives. You can of course enjoy it raw. Like last week’s cauliflower, or last year’s winter salad.

But this time around, we are making something using another of our favourite ingredients. Oregano essential oil is in store, all the way from a small farm in Nothern Greece. We met the producer a few weeks ago, during our November workshop and got even more excited about this aromatic ingredient.

So this week, we are bringing the two together, in a creamy beetroot dip, topped with oregano oil. Can you think of anything better for this time of the year?

Scrub the beetroot. Wrap each beetroot in tinfoil and bake at 180C until soft inside. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, using your fingers remove the skins. Let them cool. Place beetroot in a food processor (you can cut them in smaller pieces to make your life easier). Add the yogurt, vinegar, olive oil and grape molasses. Blend until smooth. Season with salt.

To serve, mix two drops of oregano oil with 4 tbsp of oil. Smell. Breath. And drizzle over the dip. Sprinkle over some spring onions, fresh thyme and sesame seeds.

Eating vegetables can be quite tricky for some. You see, many of us grew up eating boiled vegetables. Or deep-fried. Boiled vegetables can be quite bland. Deep fried vegetables can often be very heavy. So what does one do?

When you decide to incorporate more vegetables in your diet, your mind often goes to boring food. And at wintertime one needs bold, interesting flavours to balance the gloomy weather outside. How do you go from a hearty beef stew to a meatless Monday?

When it comes to vegetables, there are two things you need really. A different way to cook them. Something interesting to dress them up with.

So grab some nice root vegetables. Or squash. Or broccoli. Whatever’s in season. Whatever you like. We chose cauliflower this week.

Cut the vegetables and place them neatly on a baking tray. Make sure to spread them in one layer and leave space between them. You don’t want to end up with boiled vegetables. Not today anyway.

Season with salt, pepper and drizzle some olive oil. Add spices or herbs. For the cauliflower we used some dried thyme. Roast the vegetables at 200C, turning them once if needed. When they are tender when pierced with a knife and have a lovely golden brown colour they are ready. You’re half way there.

Now for the second step. This week we are making a yogurt-tahini dressing. It goes perfectly with roasted cauliflower (or any other vegetables of your choosing).

In a bowl, mix the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice and zest. Stir until everything is blend together smoothly. If you want a more liquid sauce, loosen the mixture with as much water as you like. Season with salt and pepper. Before serving, add the freshly cut herbs. You can use chives, parley, mint, whatever you prefer. Whatever you have in your fridge really.

Serve while the vegetables are hot and the sauce is cold. I think now you are ready for that meatless Monday, right?

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